Abdominal lining scar tissue removal is a controversial topic at the moment. This kind of surgery was often used to help relieve chronic abdominal pain.

The theory is that scar tissue in the abdomen contributes to persistent, chronic pain in the abdomen, and surgery to remove the scar tissue was often recommended to patients who complained of such pain.

However, recent research suggests that surgery to remove abdominal lining scar surgery does not actually relieve pain for the majority of patients.

In fact, researchers say that this surgery should not be recommended except in extreme cases because it is a high risk surgery that offers questionable benefits.

High risk surgeries are something that most doctors and surgeons are reluctant to recommend unless they are absolutely necessary, so this latest research will be a massive cause for concern for doctors that specialise in providing care to those with chronic abdomen pain.

Chronic Adbominal Pain And Laparoscopic Surgery

Researchers examined a large group of patients who suffered from chronic abdominal pain and who had been found to have scar tissue or adhesions in the abdomen during laparoscopic surgery. This surgery involves inserting a scope into the body through several small holes in your abdomen.

Half of the patients monitored in the study went on to have further laparoscopic surgery in order to remove the scar tissue. At the end of the study it was found that removing the scars had no impact on the amount of pain that the patients suffered.

The group that only had the first laparoscopic surgery reported the same amount of pain relief as the group that had the second surgery to remove the abdominal scar tissue.

Dingeman Swank, MD, a Laparoscopic Surgeon, says that the problem with the surgery is that it is one which carries a high risk for serious complications. Because of this high risk, and the fact that the benefits appear to be minimal, it is not worth carrying out the procedure.

Swank took care to explain that he does believe that the diagnostic surgery itself is worthwhile. He notes that in between five and seven percent of cases the diagnostic surgery finds a cause for the persistent abdominal pain other than adhesions, and that many of those other causes can be successfully treated.

Removing adhesions, however, appears to offer no benefits to patients and is a very high risk procedure.

Difficult To Diagnose

Chronic pain in the abdomen is something that affects a large number of people and that is very difficult to diagnose. Even once a diagnosis is reached, treatment can be difficult.

Bands of scar tissue in the human body are quite common, and they can come from previous surgeries, infections, or conditions such as endometriosis.

There are many doctors who believe that these bands of scar tissue do contribute to abdominal pain, and for this reason if doctors cannot find any other cause for the pain they may recommend that the scar tissue be removed.

Swank has performed scar tissue removal procedures on around 200 patients in his career.

He began to question the value of the procedure when he noticed the high complication rate, which included two deaths and a ten percent incidence of severe complications such as bowl perforations.

He conducted a study on 100 patients who were receiving treatment for chronic abdominal pain at the Groene Hart Hospital in the Netherlands.

The patients were followed for one year after surgery and asked about the pain relief effects that they experienced.

Half of the group had a single laparoscopy, while the other half had follow-up scar removal. It quickly became clear that the pain relieving effects of scar removal were almost non-existent.

In addition to the study conducted in the Netherlands, Swank conducted some independent studies, and he found that 95% of patients who had abdominal scar removing surgery saw adhesions return within a couple of years. This is another reason that he feels that scar removal surgery is not worth recommending.

Swanks findings go against conventional wisdom, which suggests that between 70 and 80 percent of patients who are given surgery to remove abdominal scar tissue will see a reduction in pain that was caused directly by the surgery. Further follow up studies will be necessary to reach a conclusion.

If you are suffering from chronic abdominal pain, do not ignore the condition. Talk to your doctor and see if they can refer you to a specialist who can diagnose the condition.

Currently, doctors struggle to help people who have chronic pain and have already had multiple surgeries, but relief is available for some patients.

A specialist will be in a better position to diagnose your condition and perhaps recommend hormone therapies, other surgeries or alternative treatments. There is no need to suffer in silence.

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